I don't know when and how I become the ‘go to
person.' For years, people have been coming to me to find answers to
questions - particularly on local issues. I do not hold public office, I am
not involved in city management and my crystal ball has been broken for
ages.
Over the years, though, people have come to me with questions and voiced
their concerns to me where they wouldn't do so at a public forum. It
probably stems from the fact that I've written columns and taken on
unpopular or difficult issues.
HUSBAND Bill used to remind me that I wasn't working or being paid by 60
Minutes. A series of columns I wrote in Solana Beach about teenagers and
drugs got some youngsters mad enough that they blew up three of our
mailboxes. They were finally caught and prosecuted but I don't think I have
that kind of energy anymore. Besides since Bill is gone, I have nobody to
protect me from myself. Oh well, sweet prince, here we go again!
Although I write an opinion column, I try to do due diligence by dispensing
facts along with my opinions. A rule of thumb I have employed for years is
quite simple: If I hear something from three different people, I elevate it
to rumor status and do my best to check out the merits of the statement.
I have tried to employ the same principles while researching this story. I
have tried to have my questions answered by several Banning city officials,
to no avail. I probably should have, but did not contact Beaumont city
officials; the reasons will become obvious in a few paragraphs. Maybe, by
airing these questions in public, we interested citizens can get some
answers.
As I said above, the questions I am about to ask come from other people.
Without them, I would never be going where others have chosen not to tread.
Have you ever driven north and south on Highland Springs Avenue? If you live
and work in the Pass Area, the answer is a resounding, “Yes.” Okay then.
In 1987, a Community
Facilities District (No. 86-1 Sun Lakes), was formed between the City of
Banning, City of Beaumont and the County of Riverside. The Banning Bridge &
Thoroughfare District (which included a portion of Sun Lakes) could levy and
collect benefit fees for construction of the infrastructure.
The construction was for the Highland Springs
underpass (grade separation). Some fees were paid by the Sun Lakes Shopping
Center owners and the California Highway Patrol kicked in some money. A
Mello Roos tax was tacked on to all Sun Lakes
Homeowners but most people recognized that the underpass was financed on the
backs of Sun Lakes' residents. The City of Beaumont was responsible for
their fair share.
According to the agreement (3.10 Strict
Accountability,) “County, Beaumont and Banning shall strictly account for
all Benefit Fees and Road Improvement fees respectively collected by them
and CFD No. 86-1 shall annually account in writing for all Benefit Fees or
Road Improvement Fees received and all disbursements from the Reimbursement
Fund.” Did this occur?
Now I refer to the fact that the famous economist,
Clara Peller, who did those Wendy's commercials,
asked, “Where's the beef?”
Did the City of Banning collect the CFD fees from
the City of Beaumont? If yes, where's the money? If not: WHY NOT?
If I have my figures right, the nearly $7 million
cost was split as follows: Riverside County 27%, City of Beaumont (31%), and
City of Banning (42%). As a Sun Lakes resident, I can verify that folks
within this community have paid from day 1 to the end of the obligation.
Beaumont did not experience much development
between 1987 and 2004. Then the development boom hit Beaumont with such
enterprises as Home Depot, Wal Mart and K.
Hovnanian's Four Seasons, to name a few. I would be safe in assuming that
the City of Beaumont issued building permits and collected a whole lot of
development fees. It would be logical to assume that they also levied and
collected the benefit fees (for the bridge and thoroughfare district) as a
condition of issuing a building permit Š right? If yes, where is the money?
If they weren't collected: WHY NOT?
For the sake of this column, dangerous as it is, I
am going to assume that the City of Beaumont neither levied or collected
fees (as they were supposed to) to pay their fair share of the Highland
Springs Underpass. Could that possibly mean that the City of Beaumont has
and continues to receive a free ride?
It is clear to me that officials in the City of
Banning would like the questions I have been asking to go away. The matter
seems to have been swept under the rug and nobody wants to account for the
bulge in the middle. The bulge is the hemorrhaging once again being felt by
the innocent taxpayers.
Should the City of Beaumont have levied the
benefits fee? If so - when? Should the City of
Banning been awake enough to remind them to collect the fees? Did they?
Should the taxpayers, mainly Sun Lakes' residents bear the brunt of what was
supposed to be a shared cost? I wonder.
Should this column be the venue to sort out the
questions I have posed? It sure would be easier but I doubt that it will be
that simple. All of the attorneys involved in the past or in the future are
probably buying digital clocks so they don't miss a second's worth of
billing.
Finally, if the question is to fall on the
shoulders of various city councils and their staffs and they get to brush it
aside with a bureaucratic, “oops,” why are the citizens and taxpayers once
again the victims and when will it finally end?
IN THE REAL WORD is written for the Record Gazette
by Gail Paparian, a Banning resident for nearly six years, has served on
Banning (and Riverside County) commissions and committees. She currently
serves on these boards: Community Blood Bank, San Gorgonio Pass Rotary, San
Gorgonio Pass Boys and Girls Club and a member of the Banning Economic
Development Committee.
